Yemeni forces capture Saudi town, villages in Asir

The Yemeni army, backed by Popular Committees loyal to the Houthi Ansarullah movement, has established control over a Saudi border town.

According to a statement released by Yemen’s army on Tuesday, the Yemeni forces managed to fully capture the town of al-Raboah in the kingdom’s southwestern Asir province after fierce clashes with Saudi troops, the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news website reported.

The report added that the Yemeni forces captured a number of villages east of al-Raboah before advancing towards the town.

The Saudi troopers, though heavily baked by warplanes and choppers, fled the area and left behind their military equipment and weaponry. The Saudi forces also sustained heavy damage and casualties in the clashes.

In another retaliatory operation against the Saudis, the Yemeni forces also killed several Saudi troopers in the Midi area of Yemen’s western Hajjah province. They also destroyed five Saudi armored vehicles.

Meanwhile, at least six Saudi soldiers were killed in attacks launched by Yemeni forces in different areas of the southwestern Saudi province of Najran. Yemeni snipers also killed two Saudi soldiers in the kingdom’s Jizan region.

The retaliatory attacks conducted by Yemeni forces come in response to the relentless Saudi aggression against the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.

Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah fighters patrol the streets chanting slogans during a tribal gathering in the capital Sana’a on December 14, 2015. (AP)

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen in late March last year in a bid to bring the country’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a Riyadh ally, back to power.

Over 8,270 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed and 16,015 others injured since the onset of the aggression. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.